Dr. Niel Nielson and his wife, Kathleen, are introduced to Covenant College community. Click to enlarge all our photos.
photo by Tim Evearitt
Dr. Niel Nielson, an associate pastor in Illinois, has been named as the new president of Covenant College on Lookout Mountain.
Dr. Nielson was introduced in a special convocation at Covenant on Wednesday morning.
He was introduced by Robert Avis, Chairman of the Board of
Trustees.
Dr. Nielson will replace Frank Brock as the fifth president of the college.
Dr. Nielson graduated summa cum laude from Wheaton College (Illinois) in 1975. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. in philosophy from Vanderbilt University in 1980.
He is married to Kathleen Buswell Nielson whom he met at Wheaton and married in 1977. Mrs. Nielson earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in Literature from
Vanderbilt. She is the granddaughter of J. Oliver Buswell, Jr. who served as president of Wheaton College and was one of the founders of Covenant College and Covenant Seminary. Her father was a long-time professor at Covenant Seminary in St. Louis.
The Nielsons have three boys. The oldest son is a freshman at Wheaton College. The second son is a sophomore in high school, and the third son is an eighth-grader.
Dr. Nielson taught philosophy one year at Trevecca College (Nashville) and four years at Bethel College (St. Paul, MN). He spent 13 years in the
Chicago area working in senior-level business positions, including commodity trading firms. He was based for two years in London, England, and traveled extensively in Europe and Eastern Europe.
An ordained elder in the Presbyterian Church in America (the denomination
sponsoring Covenant College), he currently serves as Associate Pastor of Outreach at the College Church in Wheaton.
Dr. Neilson is an avid tennis player, pianist and singer.
Dr. and Mrs. Nielson were introduced to the student body of the college in a special chapel service at 11:00. He was to meet informally with members
of the faculty Wednesday afternoon and with students early Wednesday
everning.
When Dr. Neilson spoke to the students, he stated that he couldn't have ever imagined himself as a college president. He said he had learned a lot about the college over
the last few months.
He said his wife "has had to remind him that this job is not about me, but about God."
He pointed this out by referring to I Corinthians "when Paul reminds the church that it is not the wisdom of the wise because God used the poor and lowly, and He exalts the humble."
He ended his talk to the students by asking for their prayers in the years to come.